The latest novel by Ragnar Jónasson is an homage to a woman who once was and still is one of the leading lights of the murder mystery genre, Agatha Christie. "Reykjavík: A Crime Story" is set mostly during the year 1986 as Iceland was going through many changes. Their first commercial radio station began broadcasting that year. Also their first commercial TV station. It was the 200th anniversary of the founding of the city of Reykjavík. The Cold War had begun to slowly thaw out over that year as Reykjavík became the site of a summit between the leaders of the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. And there was even cake! Such a lovely setting for a murder mystery.
In this interview Ragnar Jónasson described how he was having lunch one day with his friend Katrín Jakobsdóttir, the Prime Minister of Iceland. They are both huge fans of Agatha Christie and that was then they decided to write a novel together set in their nation that could be a
tribute to Christie with lots of suspects and a convoluted, exceeding clever plot.
The pandemic hit at an ideal time for this project to happen. It allowed the two of them ample extra time to collaborate on this wickedly ingenious story.
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